Six Chinese business persons in Ireland have donated thousands of pieces of medical equipment to the HSE.
The Chinese Embassy in Ireland said the donors have offered 200,000 masks, 3,000 sets of personal protective equipment, 20,000 respirators and 40 ventilators to the health chiefs. The first crew made up of five pilots left for Beijing from Dublin Airport at 10.20am on Saturday morning, on flight EI9018, to pick up essential equipment needed by HSE staff in the fight against Covid-19.
A source said: "The Airbus A330s will not only use the cargo holds but all the passenger seats will be loaded securely with medical equipment including PPE."These are facing over 24 hours on the plane as they can't get off in Beijing or they'll be quarantined.